Sad news, Happy news

The Tour de France is over :(

Only one week until the first football game of the season :)

Shannon Says: Luckily, Devin does not make me a football widow. He may be " excited", but if I'd rather do somethng else he doesn't seem to mind. Of course, we all know what Devin in a highly excited state sounds like. " Yeah...that wasn't bad".

Stuff

So, Shannon has taken Sierra and 2 of her friends up to Flagstaff for a few days. Sierra really wanted to stay in a cabin in the woods and watch slasher movies in which people staying in cabins in the woods were killed. ???? They went up there Monday and will be back home on Thursday.

I have been watching the Tour de France, as I do every July. This year I kept hearing about a new team that was wearing cool Mountain Dew colored uniforms. But every time I heard them mention the team, I heard the name as Leaky Gas. I could not understand why someone would name a team that. It turns out I was mis-hearing it. It is sponsored by an Italian company called Liquigas.

NOTE: The previous post is actually the newest post. Shannon started it before leaving on the trip so it appeared underneath this one. Be sure to check it out!!!

Time: A big ball of wibley wobley timey timey... stuff

So here we are back to the week of July 14 (high fives to those of you who get the title reference). It's been a busy week here at Pez Ran central. Our older dog Lila has a foot injury from her fence climbing adventures and our poor puppy Lucy has been sick for 3 days, throwing up. Two trips to the vet and $500 later, both dogs are doing better. Lucy had Parvo or so they tell me and needed intravenous fluids and anti-barf medicine. Lila has an ulcer on her toe from repeated licking and she had her nether regions "expressed". I'm glad "expressing" is not a required health maintenance for humans because it doesn't really sound pleasant. Both dogs are on meds and they seem to enjoy getting their medicine inside yummy pill pockets. Actually, Lucy is enjoys this a lot more than Lila does and tries to steal Lila's share.

And now... "Your Phoenix Mercuryyyyyyyyyyy"

Thursday night we went to watch the Phoenix Mercury SQUASH the LA Sparks. It was a very exciting game and there was lots of in between entertainment. Hip hop dancing and dogie racing and lots of interesting looking people of all persuasions and "orientations" ( wink ,wink nudge, nudge).

Sierra brought her friend Zayda and they had a great time watching the game and all the action.

" We went to an Atheist Party"

On Sunday we attended our very first Atheist "Meet up". A "Meet Up" is a way for people of like minds to get together with other people of similar interests. They have groups all over the world sharing hundreds of interests. We got together with like minded people to attend a fund-raiser pool party in Chandler. We're raising funds to erect "Imagine No Religion" billboards near the Arizona Captial. The billboards are partially sponsored by the Freedom from Religion Foundation, an organization that fights to keep church and state separate and keep religion out of public school. Rock on!

It turned out the pool party was lots of fun and Sierra and her friend Jenna had to call all their friends to let them know we went to an "Atheist Party" The conversations with their friends usually started with " Do you believe in god?" and then " Guess what! We went to an Atheist party and Atheists have the best pools!" We'll see how popular the Rankins are with the other parents when school starts I'm sure. See if you can spot Devin and I seated at the pool side bar.

When Rain is a Newsworthy Event

When it rains in Phoenix, we alert the media. It is, in fact, breaking news. Every channel has a reporter out in a slicker, standing in front of a closed road. Little children run out to play in the street as if enjoying the first snow. Yes, even adults stare in wonder at the cascading water. Thursday night Devin and I and managed to make it home from a very highbrow lecture about the Galapagos even though I thought we might need the Arc.

Small Part in a world record

So last month, Shannon and I went to TAM 6. Besides having a chance to chat with all the hosts on The Skeptics Guide to the Universe and Swoopy and Derek from Skepticality , we also got a chance to be part of a world record. Richard Wiseman made a video, here. Over 800 people bent spoons at the same time. Just like Uri Geller. You can even catch little glances of me. I'm sitting on the left side of the main isle, about 6 rows back, wearing a light blue t-shirt. Shannon is sitting right next to me, but she is not as easy to see as my big wide blue shirt.

Planet Gazing

Tonight Devin dusted off his old telescope and we all did some night sky gazing. Our first view was of the moon in its waxing crescent. Sierra and I both said " Oh MY GOD!! That is soooo cool!! " It is really something to see for yourself and not just in a picture. We could see the craters and everything. After quite a bit of work, Devin managed to find Jupiter and its four Galilean moons: Ganymede, IO, Callisto and Europa. Ok this picture is way better than what we saw, but I was able to see the rings of Jupiter and four balls that just appear to hang there as if on a string. We got our stimulus check today, so we are thinking of buying ourselves a better telescope from Craig's list. Hurrah!

The Holday Weekend Ends...... wah...

The Pez Ran Clan spent most of the weekend indoors, although plenty of people in this hot city were out at various 4th of July celebrations. Not just in the evening,but all day. In the heat, listening to concerts and having picnics etc etc. I'm sure lots of pictures were snapped and children had fun running around until they became unconscious with heat exhaustion. We did see fireworks though, but was more exciting than that was to look up at the sky and see TWO IFOs ( identified flying objects). Devin is pretty sure we saw the Hubble Telescope and a satellite.

Our only picture to commemorate the weekend of movie watching, star gazing, indoor shopping and Internet surfing is this strange picture.

In summer, we like to burn candles in the fireplace. I thought the skull set off the other four candles nicely. After seeing Indiana Jones, I thought we could use some mystical, alien wisdom at our house. Although the skull is wax rather than crystal, it is shiny. I sense that it will work just as well.




Update!! Please enjoy this J-Jill fashion show as a result of a really fun shopping trip with mom. Yeah MOM! You rock!












Hmmm not sure about this one. This looked better in the store than at home. What you think?













Fun and flirty....with fabulous au-naturale morning look going on.



















Another one that looked better in the dressing room I think? Maybe I just need a little ..ummm "support".















I like this one..check out my puppy assessory.

It's a hot Phoenix 4th of July

The weather in Phoenix is very monotonous. Yep...its hot. In fact, you do get used to it if getting used to it means staying inside. So, I sit inside in my uber-air conditioned office with my sweater on ( thanks to Devin who like it cold) remembering our vacation with fondness. Jamaica in February is fabulous.